COVENTRY winger Lee Parry has been ruled out for whole of next season by a knee injury.

The 22-year-old is facing surgery to repair a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and torn meniscus in his right knee, followed by a long period of rehabilitation.

Parry, who recently signed a new two-year contract with the Championship club, was injured in Cov’s win at Otley on March 30, but the full extent of the problem has only now been revealed following further investigation after the knee failed to recover.

“It’s a mess,” said Parry, who scored seven tries last season from just 13 games in an injury-interrupted campaign. “The reason why I haven’t been getting any pain from it is because there is nothing left to get pain from.

“It’s been really weird - it felt fine and I was running around and still doing gym work, but it didn’t get any better and I was finding it hard to do things like just locking my leg out, so I went for a scan.

“At the time it happened, my knee collapsed and there was a bit of a snapping feeling, and everyone said it sounded like the meniscus but that I could work through it, build up the muscle around it, have a tidy up and be back within six weeks.

“I had down the worst scenario as being out for three months, but now I’m told it will be nine to 12 months.”

The nephew of ex-Cov full-back Marc Thomas, Parry moved to the club two seasons ago from Nuneaton where he was leading try scorer in the2006-07 campaign. Last season was his first as a full-time player after completing his degree studies, and with that experience he was looking forward to a bright future.

“I have a provisional date for the operation at the end of next month and I’m told I should be back training within six weeks,” he said, “but getting the knee strong enough to play again is what will take the time.

“It’s not good, but the positive side to is that I am young and once I have got it out of the way I can look forward to playing for a number of years.

“The club have been very good about it and I hope to be involved there at some level over the season.”

Cov have added Cambridge University outside centre Chris Lewis to their squad. The 22-year-old, who also plays on the wing, won his Blue in 2007 and was named Cambridge’s player of the year last season. An England Students cap, he is launching his full-time rugby career with Cov after completing a degree course in history with management studies.